CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Optometry Giving Sight has named Amir Khoshnevis, OD, as its Philanthropist of the Year. Khoshnevis is a Vision Source Administrator in North Carolina and his practice, Carolina Family Eye Care, has two locations in Charlotte. He was chosen for this award because of his continued support of Optometry Giving Sight and his desire to provide eye care and glasses to those in need, the organization said.

Dr. Khoshnevis said he is passionate about Optometry Giving Sight because of the charity’s mission and approach to solving preventable blindness worldwide. “The work done to date by Optometry Giving Sight has not only saved thousands from unfathomable loss of functional life due to uncorrected refractive error blindness, but has also created a new generation of eye care professionals in countries that, up until now, have had no ability to train optometrists or eye care personnel. Having local optometrists in these communities will mean that future generations will not suffer from refractive error blindness,” he noted.

Optometry Giving Sight currently funds 18 vision care projects in 16 developing countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Eighty five percent of donations from eye care professionals, optical staff, employees and patients goes directly to support programs that help give sight to those most in need, according to the organization, which is based in Golden, Colo.